Windows 7: CPU Upgrade I need advice.

Run Heaven with everything set to max and run Mark 3d with the standard performance settings. I have an evga 670 and will compare scores with you.

Also, use EVGA Precision x and set a custom fan profile. The 600 serise will begin to throttle a little at 70C, so make sure to stay below that. And if you are playing older games, you probably won't see a lot of difference but some of the newer more demanding games you should.

Here's my first result. ATI Radeon HD 5870 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-930 Processor,ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6X58D-E score: P4716 3DMarks

Here's a screenshot of the Uni bench
I will know install my 670.

While some people think that games aren't CPU based, and haven't been for a decade, that, unfortunately isn't entirely true. MANY games benefit from a mix of a stout processor and an equally powerful graphics card. To say that you can game with a single core or a 6 core processor is simply not the case. I don't know of many modern games that you can even launch with a single core....even if you had the most outrageous GPU setup.

The most common issue with an under-performing graphics card is the driver. Nvidia usually rolls out a driver every month, so just go to their website to get the newest. Always run the newest driver if possible. NEVER buy a card, bolt it in and install the driver from the disk that came with it.......unfortunately, by the time it gets to your house, the driver is outdated. Looking at your benchmark result above, it looks like there is a problem with your driver for the card. I'm not sure what exactly, but just check to see that it is the newest one for your class of card.

EDIT: Also, check your motherboard manufacturer's website to see if there is a BIOS update. I know some boards had trouble running the 670/680 when they first came out and some were fixed with a new graphics card driver, and the others were fixed via a BIOS update.

The score he is showing is with his 5870. The 670 should be much better.

Ah, I see. Just clicked on the link w/o reading. Derp

In the Heaven benchmark, put the values to max and enable tesselation like this. Now, mine should be higher than yours. but look at the values for the test.

Here's the 3DMark11 test. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-930 Processor,ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6X58D-E score: P8664 3DMarks

You've got nothing to be worried about. Those are good scores. Certainly much better than your 5870 scores.

How do I "quit" from Uniengine, once it's in full screen I can't close it down. Where is the screenshot?

Hit escape then quit. When you start it up, once it's completely loaded hit F9 or push the benchmark button on the top left.